Connected
by HK Keiji
Summary: Naruto hardly see's life outside the four walls of his room, because of his illness. Yet, he meets someone on the internet... Maybe this chance meeting could change his life. Sasuke and Naruto. Sasunaru... beautiful.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - **I don't own Naruto or any of the characters**  
**

* * *

**Connected  
By Keiji**_  
Life goes flying by the speed of sound_  
**  
Pairing - **Sasuke and Naruto  
**Summary - **Naruto hardly see's life outside the four walls of his room, because of his disease. Yet, he meets someone on the internet... his first friend. His saviour, his light. And his screen name is dark angel. Maybe... its a start of a new life. **  
**

* * *

_A small young boy laid there, on the clean white sheets of the bed._

_He was a beautiful boy, to say the least. His soft blonde hair gently fell across his closed blue eyes, it was almost as if he were an angel. Everything that surrounded him was white; the walls, the blankets, the pillow, the light..._

_Yet sometimes, when he tried to open his eyes, he'd feel his breath clog up._

_...daddy? _

_He would try to speak, but nothing would come out of his mouth. Something plastic and hard was strapped across his face, connected with a tube._

_His eyes would open a bit more as he looked around himself, seeing shadows._

_Shadows of machines, looming next to his bed. The lights danced, and a small green line ran across a screen occasionally bleeping ominously. Then, with a surreptitious flicker, almost cruelly, the machine would sound the alert that he was awake._

_The boy tried to wake himself up, and try to move._

_Try to get the damn mask off his face._

_Then, sounds began to seep in and register to his glazed mind. The hoarse roaring of the breathing tank, the gurgles of the drips running to the injections in his arms, the incessant beeping and alert noises ringing throughout._

_Nurses rushed in and tried to push him back down onto the bed._

_"Hush... calm..." They'd say, stroking his hair._

_All he could think of was his father. He __needed to see his father. In desperation, he was willing to wrench himself off the bed..._

_...but before he could move his tired and paralyzed body any further, a man in white came forth and stuck a needle into his arm, alongside the many other needles that were already inserted, pumping liquids into his small body.  
_

_"He'll be fine..." His voice assured, the last voice that Naruto heard before he slipped into darkness._

* * *

Naruto abruptly woke, flinging the sheets aside in a flurry, breathing heavily. 

Drops of sweat slid down the back of his cold neck as he shivered, his frightened blue eyes scanning the dark room. He turned to his bedside and tried to open his drawer until he realized his hands were shaking badly.

"Sh-shit..." He cursed, gripping firmly onto the handle and yanking the drawer open.

The drawer fell and spilt its contents onto the floor with a clamorous noise. Naruto heaved his body to the side and rolled his body off the bed, landing on his hands and knee's. He shook even worse as he tried to scramble his way through bits of paper, pen and other objects.

Finally, his shaking hands brushed away the last pieces of paper before they revealed a needle, filled with a crystalline liquid. Naruto grabbed it, leaning against his bed.

His breathing shortened and he felt blackness rush towards his head.

He used his other hand to shakily push his shirt up. Not even bothering to swab his skin with alchohol, he jabbed the needle straight into his stomach. The thin, almost invisible needle, immediately pierced through and the liquid was injected swiftly. The effects were almost immediate.

Naruto didn't even have the energy to wipe the cold sweat dripping off his face, as he collapsed against his bed.

The door opened and light spilled into the room.

"Naruto!" The voice said harshly, yet it was full of concern.

Naruto gave a weak smile as the brown haired man quickly made his way to his side.

"...is ok..." He mumbled.

"Naruto, I told you next time this happens, you press the button," Iruka scolded, checking his face with a look of worry. He checked the needle, looking relieved that it wasn't broken and stuck in Naruto's flesh.

"I... I did it," Naruto breathed. "I did it myself," He said, looking proud.

Iruka stopped fretting and looked at him with a sad smile. "I know Naruto... but it's too dangerous now, I... I just like you to trust me. Alright?"

Naruto nodded, and Iruka helped him up to his feet.

His breathing had quickly gone down back to normal, and he was no longer sweating. In fact, he felt more awake than ever. That was what the drug did to him. Sometimes, almost everytime he woke up, he'd be on the brink of a break down. Then, the next minute he was alive.

Alive.

He wasn't sure if he was thankful for it, yet.

"Let's get some breakfast, eh?" Iruka smiled softly.

"Sure," Naruto mumbled, wiping the blonde hair stuck to his forehead. He half crawled to the nearby desk with the computer chair, pulling it closer. Slowly, he heaved himself into the chair, shaking a little when the wheels began to roll backwards. Finally, he plopped into his seat with a satisfied smile.

Iruka watched, silently congratulating him with a smile. Then, the man turned and went to go get food for Naruto.

Naruto pressed the button of the computer on his desk.

It was an old crappy thing, and ran slowly. With great effort, the main drive finally began to whir into life and the screen turned to the desk top image of Iruka and Naruto together.

Naruto patiently waited.

He hated being patient, but it was something he had to learn to do. It was taking a long time to learn patience though. He was more sick of the four walls than the illness hidden within himself. He tapped the keyboard, sighing as he stared at the four walls.

Four. That was a bad, unlucky number. Or maybe, it was just Naruto being slightly paranoid.

Finally the bulky desktop computer finished loading.

Naruto took the mouse, easing his wheeling chair forward a bit. He flicked on the desktop lamp and began to click away at the screen, with great ease that only practise over time could mold. He tapped a bit at the computer, before beginning his daily internet crawl.

He loved the internet.

In a way, he hated it, but yes, he loved it because it was like a kaleidoscope of the world. Just a slightly differant way of seeing everything, everywhere. And he was grateful to be able to watch through the looking glass at other people around the world.

He began to wind his way through various internet pages, lazily waiting for something to come up to interest himself.

"Been there... been there... seen that..." He murmured to himself, clicking on and off differant screens.

Then, a window popped up.

His mouse hovered over the little X button before he realized he hadn't seen this page on the internet before.

Curious, he leaned in a bit more.

It appeared to be a rather dramatic, dark looking website. A blog belonging to some emo kid, or at least, that's what Naruto thought. He had never seen an emo, and had only heard them on the internet and through music.

The blog looked interesting. To the point, the picture of the boy the blog belonged to looked interesting.

"U-chee-ha..." Naruto scrolled down a bit to get a better look at the picture of him.

He gazed in awe, almost enchanted by the image. There, a boy looking up and sideways, exposing his pale neck. He wore a dark blue coloured shirt with a collar that reached midway his neck, making it look revealing yet at the same time concealing. His black eyes were half lidded, almost in a lonely way as he gazed away, with heavy black eyelashes. His fine eyebrows were just visible as his two ebony bangs softly frayed across his cheek bones.

It was better than the picture the other week Naruto had discovered the bahamas.

He began to read the writing below, tearing his eyes away from the picture.

_... Tuesday - It's as if life stopped._

Naruto blinked at the first line.

_...The feeling of helplessness flows through the very veins that trail from my heart._

Naruto stopped again, looking away and feeling his heart beginning to thud a little harder. It was ridiculous. It was just some silly poem-like thing that someone had written. So why was it evoking such emotions in him so early? Maybe... it was because he had found someone that felt like he did...

So he read on.

_...Sometimes, I wonder if I'm really breathing. Maybe I'm not, because darkness surrounds me, like a covet of doom. _

_My only hope lies in the half luminous horizon. _

_I often think to myself, what is the point in living?_

_Why can everyone let go, and be unplugged, whilst I still survive... with my pulse flickering, barely alive._

_I don't think I can survive this. Yet I did, I have, I will. Maybe it's destiny, but I'm not sure about that. It's been 6 years now, up to this very day, that they're gone. The people I love are gone._

_They're the ones who make me who I am..._

Suddenly the door opened and Iruka with his clinking tray came through, interrupting Naruto with a loud, "Breakfast is ready!"

Naruto's eyes widened and he frantically shut the window to the taskbar, looking frightened the hell out of his life. His mouse almost fell off the edge of the desktop.

"...Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you," Iruka apologized, looking slightly concerned. He set the breakfast tray down next to the computer as Naruto blushed slightly. "So, found anything new?"

Naruto shook his head, despite that usually he'd excitedly report whatever he found on the internet to him. But now, he just wanted to read it. He tried mentally to will Iruka away quickly.

"Any new places?"

"Nope," Naruto quickly said, giving a shake of his head.

"Alright then..." Iruka looked slightly disappointed, then turned to leave.

As soon as the door closed, Naruto managed to breathe again and re-opened the page. He had no idea why he was in such a fuss to hide the page from Iruka. It wasn't anything obscene or rude. It was just a blog.

_...I can't fill that empty void._

_No matter how hard I strive, to whatever goal people push me towards, I feel as if I'm tumbling further down a dark path which I can't return._

_It's like I've lost and found myself, in the hands of another person._

_No. I can't fill that empty void... _

_And maybe, I don't want to.  
_

_... Uchiha._

Naruto leaned back in his chair a bit, trying to stop breathing too heavily. But that last line bothered him. Maybe he doesn't want to? Why not? Who would want to live through all the suffering, without even trying to cure it? Naruto knew he couldn't

With a slight feeling of something uneasy hanging in the air, he scrolled down the page and looked at the other bit, with all his details.

_Location: Yamaho, Japan_

_Age: 17  
_

_Subject(s): Biology, Math, Art_

Naruto sighed a bit. He had no idea where Yamaho is, in fact, he hardly knew where he himself was. Sure he had seen maps, but they were far too confusing for him to figure out.

Then another piece caught his eye.

Without second thought, Naruto clicked the email target. He tapped the desktop a bit, wondering what to think. He was nervous, for no reason. It was just an email. But then he realized his hand was shaking a bit.

Slowly, he raised his fingers to the keyboard, and began to type._  
_

* * *

This is MY story, for MY pleasure, but it'd be nice if you guys reviewed... 

im not telling you what he's sick with yet (YES HE'S SICK, if you havent noticed.. LOL)

xx keiji


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer - **I don't own Naruto or any of the Characters**  
**

* * *

**Connected  
By Keiji**_  
Life goes flying by the speed of sound_  
**  
Pairing - **Sasuke and Naruto  
**Summary - **Naruto hardly see's life outside the four walls of his room, because of his illness. Yet, he meets someone on the internet... his first friend. His saviour, his light. Maybe... its a start of a new life.

* * *

The raven haired teen slouched slightly in his seat, fingers entwined in front of his face. Just above his slender fingers were his eyes, glaring out from under his dark and silky hair which set off his delicate features hidden beneath his glare. 

Under his desk, he was tapping his foot impatiently. Then he stopped and shifted so that he could cross his legs in an attempt to sit in a more comfortable position. He immediately uncrossed his legs and returned to shaking his leg again. He was getting impatient.

Sasuke usually wasn't one to become impatient.

Heck, he was famed for being the one who ignored all. He wasn't waived by anything. Nothing.

But the lecture he was in was beginning to get on his nerves.

His biology teacher must've been going on for several hours already, and it was still only morning. The reason why he was becoming agitated was because he knew everything already. It wasn't as if he was boasting, no, he just loathed being taught things all over again because the other idiots in his class couldn't keep up.

"Stop shaking your leg," The boy in front of him said, in a hushed but annoyed tone. He turned back to listen to the lecture.

Sasuke stopped shaking his leg and was half tempted to kick the chair in front of him, as payback for the insolent boy talking to him in such a manner. However, he knew that despite the fact he was one of the top students in his year, he would still be put in detention for it.

So he sighed, glaring at everyone who dared looked in his direction. He grew slightly disappointed as no one did, which gave him nothing to vent his anger through his eyes.

Quietly, he opened his white laptop in front of him. The screen glowed for a minute before settling into a silent hum.

He tapped inaudibly, his fingers flying over the keyboard with skilled practise as he logged onto his email account. Suddenly, there was a little_ ping _fromt his laptop and an alert popped up.

**You have just recieved an email...**

He paused typing and frowned at the email alert, wondering who it was. He had already typed up everyone's emails he knew with their appropriate names, so he immediately knew that this was an unknown person. It was probably just an advertisement, but even then he knew that his junk mail could filter out everything unnecessary.

Sasuke frowned, his mouse hovering above the email.

If it was someone's real email that he didn't know already, they had probably gotten it from his website.

He glanced up momentarily to check no one had noticed he wasn't listening to the lecture anymore. The teacher standing down at the front was still droning on with his speech.. Then he turned back to his laptop and clicked the link.

The first thing he did was to scan the email address to see if he knew who it was. He scrolled down the screen a bit and saw it, frowning a little more.

_Foxandhound, Japanonline._

He raised an eyebrow as he studied the email. So it wasn't an advert, but it was most likely to be one of those annoying girls that consistantly kept trying to email him. He thought he had already blocked all of them.

_Foxandhound... Japanonline... _probably someone from Japan then.

Using his finger, he slid the laptop mouse over to the block button, but wavered when he saw the first few lines of the email.

He leaned back into his chair, scanning the wording briefly. It almost seemed... childlike.

_hi _

_im naruto_

_i really liked your poem, i felt the same way  
_

Sasuke stared at that line for a while, wondering by what this person meant by feeling the same way. Did this person actually _read _what he wrote? Highly unlikely. Nobody, particularly these nonsensical fan girls that followed him around, read his blog for what it was.

No one.

Usually the emails would begin with, _Hey Uchiha-kun! Asl please??, _paying no regards to what he had written. It was almost as if they only saw his _picture_ and that was it. He was finding it difficult to believe that for the first time, someone had actually read it.

_im not sure what to write, heh, i dont usually do this sort of thing but... i feel like we have alot in common._

_sometimes, i feel like theres a void in me as well. do you think... you know. Loneliness. Is that what you feel? I feel it all the time. everytime i wake up it feels like i'm dying all over again. sounds stupid huh_

_youre the first person i told this about.. and this is sort of a sudden thing to ask but, be my friend?_

_thats ok if you dont want to be, i can completely understand. _

_ill be waiting_

_naruto._

Short, and somehow, absurdly attractive. It definitely made a refreshing change from all the simpering suck ups Sasuke usually came across. And there was an air of innocence that even seemed to radiate off the glowing screen.

Sasuke forced himself to come to the conclusion that this boy was merely a _noob_. There was no, utter way, that this boy was sincere. Could he be?

Glancing back down to recheck on the teacher, he clicked the reply button. At least this would give him a few minutes of enjoyment.

* * *

Naruto pulled his knee's up to his chest, rocking slightly on his computer chair. He chewed on his lip, staring at the screen on his computer. 

**Email sent.**

_Oh god, email sent..._**  
**

His hand wandered away from the mouse and he folded his arms onto his knee's, tucking his chin in and gazing at the screen, as if hoping something miraculous would happen. He had sort of expected something to happen, at least in the next five minutes.

Nothing.

Bitterly, he closed the blog window, already feeling the emptiness cut deeper into himself, for having hope. There was something about closing that window that seemed to determine the fact that this Uchiha was _gone_. Shut off. Nothing.

He closed his eyes, leaning his head back onto the soft chair, untill...

_Ping._

**You have just recieved an email...**

His blue eyes widened and he jerked his chair forward so quickly he almost fell off. He grabbed the mouse, wriggling it about to find it, then rushed to click the email alert before it closed. He released the breath he was holding, still keeping his eyes locked onto the screen.

Somewhere at the back of his mind, he was telling himself that this was just a piece of junk email, so that his hopes wouldn't soar too high. Yet at the same time, he had this itching feeling that it had to be the Uchiha boy.

Quietly he cursed the machine for being slow, as it kept whirring and clicking as it tried to load the email page. It was almost as if it was intentionally killing him, loading itself as slow as possible to torture him for results.

His chair creaked as he leaned forward even more, biting the soft flesh of his lip.

Finally the email page opened, and his eyes ran over the email address. But the address was blocked. On the other hand, he could immediately tell that this email came from _him_. He inwardly felt an explosion inside himself, his heat beginning to pound slightly.

At the bottom, he read..

_Sincerely, U__chiha_

Excited, he began to read the email reply.

_Dobe,_

He blinked, and stared at the rather abrupt introduction that began with an insulting nickname. He decided to ignore this for the moment.

_What makes you think that sending me an email would make us friends? It's so painfully obvious what kind of person you are; someone who surfs the net with nothing better to do with their time._

Naruto paled as he read the next few lines. His throat suddenly felt dry and scratchy and he had to shut his eyes tightly for a while, as if to check he was reading it properly. Nope. He read it right. That acidic feeling in his mouth remained.

_You "feel like" we have alot in common? I highly doubt that. For one, you're not even at school right now, judging by the time you sent me the email. Secondly, I know nothing about you, and you know nothing of me. _

_Besides, it's not as if I'm _that _desperate to search for friends online. That's sad, don't you think? I'm not lonely, you're mistaken. I have many friends, and thats not bragging. It's fact. I don't need you, a sad little girl, to be my friend._

_Do me a favour, leave me alone._

_Sincerely, Uchiha._

The blonde had to lean back on his chair and stare up at the ceiling, trying his best not to choke on the words that the Uchiha had written.

There could be mistake.

Naruto forced himself to scan through the replied email again. It didn't look like a mistake. What had he written that the Uchiha had felt so wrong? Didn't he understand exactly what he had been talking about?

Didn't this Uchiha understand the feeling of loneliness?

_I'm not lonely. Leave me alone._

Naruto tapped at the keyboard, the bitter feeling starting to fade away. Now he was feeling ultimately pissed.

He moved his mouse to the reply button and hit it, then began to type rapidly.

* * *

Sasuke grinned to himself with satisfaction as his email was sent. For a moment, he regretted it, but then that feeling soon washed over. 

He lifted his finger from the laptop mouse pad and folded his arms, with a smug smile on his face. He leaned back on his chair, smirking slightly to himself. Yet, no sooner than his fingers had left the surface of his laptop there was an instant _Ping..._

**You have just recieved an email from foxandhound...**

His obsidian eyes widened slightly.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered to himself, staring at the message alert. He sat his chair back down properly and glared at the offending alert.

How had this dobe replied so quickly, he had no idea.

The person in front of him had once again turned around to hush him, and tell him to stop shaking his leg.

Sasuke gave him an icy glare, but stopped shaking his leg again. He couldn't help it. This time he really was becoming agitated, and confused. So, with his smirk slipping off his face, he clicked the email alert.

_Hey, teme,_

_don't treat me stupid, cus im not. why the hell would you write that stuff on your blog in the first place if it didn't mean anything to you?_

_You know what, you're just an asshole. i cant believe i just opened myself up to some random bastard. You know why i did that in the first place? Because you looked sort of... cool. And everything you wrote touched me, BELIEVE IT!_

_and for your information, i'm NOT a girl. Naruto is boys name, stupid. quit flattering yourself, i wouldn't understand why any girls would fancy you. You're just a jerk._

_I DO go to school... i'm just typing from my classroom. you think you're so smart huh?_

Then that was it.

The email just ended, just like that.

No 'Naruto', no 'leave me alone." It just ended.

Sasuke glared at the screen for a few minutes, taking his time to digest all the information. It was challenging. He had _never _had someone type to him like this before. It was ridiculous, and strangely it plucked something within him.

Like a string had snapped.

This Naruto happened to be a boy, so... that means he wasn't a girl...

_Very smart, Uchiha... _he thought to himself, leaning against the desk and resting his chin against his hand. This boy happened to be rather fiesty as well. It looked as if he had typed the email in a rush, as if wanting to catch his attention and at the same time retaliate.

Sasuke rested his hand on his laptop, rereading the email a few more times.

This Naruto boy hadn't told him to go away. Maybe he was waiting for another reply.

* * *

Naruto was typing furiously, literally stabbing the keyboard. He knew he was getting worked up over nothing, but he couldn't help it. 

He hated it when people tried to judge him, particularly when they never met him in the first place. He couldn't believe that even this Uchiha boy was typing to him like that when he knew nothing about him. It made him... sort of upset.

He had gotten about halfway through his rant, glaring at the screen as he typed before suddenly the door to his room opened.

Without second thought, he hit the enter button and then shut the screen.

**Email sent.**

"Naruto, you haven't touched your breakfast," Iruka said, coming into the room to check up on him.

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, still staring at the now empty screen.

"Are you alright? You look a little flushed... maybe you need some of the extra medication they prescribed..."

"No," Naruto said quickly, looking up at Iruka. "I'm... I'm fine."

"Alright then..." Iruka said unsurely, looking worried for the blonde boy. "I'm going to go to work now. Remember, if you need help you can always get the neighbours."

Naruto nodded as Iruka gave him a brief kiss on the forehead. For a moment the brunette looked reluctant about leaving Naruto alone, but then he finally left, shutting the door behind him. He sighed to himself.

"Crap..." He muttered, as he realized what he had just done.

He had sent the email.

Now that he looked back on it, it was stupid. He should've just ignored the Uchiha, whom he now knew as a complete and total bastard. He hadn't even finished the email properly, and he didn't mean to send it in the first place.

He pressed his hand against his forehead, groaning inwardly. He stayed like that for a while, feeling like crying but didn't. He just felt empty again.

It was a few minutes later that his computer pinged again.

**You have just recieved an email...**

**

* * *

**

Well.. thats what happens in real life (to me anyway) so face it.. xD hope it was ok

please review? xD

xx keiji


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer - **I don't own Naruto or any of the Characters

* * *

**Connected  
By Keiji**_  
Life goes flying by the speed of sound_  
**  
Pairing - **Sasuke and Naruto  
**Summary - **Naruto hardly sees life outside the four walls of his room, because of his illness. Yet, he meets someone on the internet... his first friend. His saviour, his light. Maybe... its a start of a new life.

* * *

_Beep._

_Beep._

_A green line was flickering, barely._

_The constancy of this mechanical bleeping wasn't in the least reassuring, but foreboding. It was as if you were just waiting for the beeping to stop, and let the jumping line fall into one monotone hum. The ominous end._

"_Clear," A voice, distant. He could barely hear it. _

_Then, something cold and metallic pressed against his chest and he could feel a jolt of energy surge through him, yet the feeling was numb. He could hardly feel the shock of electricity wind through the throbbing sensation, all he could feel._

_A soft gurgling noise came into sound, and something pricked his skin._

"_He's going to be fine," Said another voice, just like the other. It seemed as if all these different voices were drifting in and out of his mind._

_It was torturous. Something sharp and painful was digging into his neck, icily coursing down his throat and piercing his lungs. He couldn't breathe. He was choking on that plastic object strapped across his face, and something loud was breathing heavily through it._

"_Clear," The voice drifted back to his mind, but this time he felt a hand touch him instead of something metal._

_The hand twisted its finger into the cloth, gripping painfully tight so that he couldn't breathe, he couldn't even cry out as the hand forced his head under a gush of water. Water, bubbling as he tried to struggle back to the surface…_

He jerked awake, only to find himself being shoved back down onto the bed.

Spasms caused Naruto to squirm uncomfortably, in a panicked matter, as he felt his skin become clammy and cold with sweat. Blurrily he tried to force his eyes open but all he saw was inky blackness.

"Let go…" He half yelled, his voice dying in his throat.

Something forced himself to lie down again. It made him feel claustrophobic, he couldn't lift himself up, it almost felt as if he couldn't breathe. He couldn't stop himself from holding his breath.

Then, there was a sharp pin prick as he felt a needle jab into the centre of his stomach.

His jolting body slowly began to cease its movements, until he collapsed, breathing heavily. All he could hear was air moving in and out of his lungs.

"Naruto, how are you…" A faded and hazy voice soon matched a shadowy figure as his eyes began to undo its dimness.

"Iruka…" He sighed, letting his tired eyelids close momentarily, his chest still rising and falling.

The brown haired man smiled softly and stroked his forehead, brushing the beads of sweat and his damp blonde hair back. The young blonde boy blinked wearily, smiling back up at Iruka.

"I'll go get breakfast, shall I?" Iruka said calmly, depositing the used needle into a plastic bag and zipping it up. "Cereal and fruits."

Naruto nodded, now feeling energy flow back into his veins.

"No fruit…" He muttered, but grinning all the same.

Iruka sighed and couldn't help rolling his eyes at the boy, shutting the door behind him as he left the room.

Static silence hung in the air, disturbed only by the gentle breathing of the blonde boy lying on the bed. The sheets quietly shuffled as Naruto began to sit up a bit. Biting his lip, he glanced at the computer near his bed. It was on stand-by.

He pushed the sheets off himself and shuffled his legs to the side, before gently pushing himself onto his feet. He almost stumbled from the sudden rush of blood to his head, grabbing onto the computer chair quickly and dumping himself into it. He pulled himself closer to the computer desk, grabbing the mouse and giving it a shake.

The computer began to whirr as the screen came back to life.

_Yep._

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that his email page was still up from last night.

And the email from last night.

He couldn't stop rereading it ever since.

_Dobe, _the first word read. He gave a half hearted smile at the newly acquired nickname.

_Perhaps there is something in common between us. You just don't give up do you._

_I presume that you're from Japan, from what your email says. Anyway, I've got to go. I'm still in class, unlike some people. I'll be on tomorrow at 9. See you then._

_Uchiha_

Naruto couldn't help smiling as he bit his lip. A warm tingly sensation was rushing to his cheeks just by reading those words. It was almost like as if this Uchiha boy, this beautiful bastard, was actually beginning to become friends...?

His fingers paused tapping on his table as he sunk further into his thoughts.

He had never done this before.

Never randomly met someone on the internet and suddenly got chatting, and he was surprised by how smoothly the whole process had gone. And it felt exciting, he hadn't actually met any people apart from doctors and Iruka. And this Uchiha boy... he was... exciting...

"Breakfast is ready."

Naruto suddenly snapped back to the computer and shut the email window, cheeks tinged with pink as he realized that Iruka had already came in without him noticing. The tray in Iruka's hands chinked as it was set down onto the table.

"Are you alright? You seem a little flushed," Iruka fussed, pressing a hand on Naruto's forehead.

Naruto quickly wriggled away from his touch, blushing even more and looking intently at the cereal.

"Thanks," He said quickly, reaching out to the spoon and almost knocking over the bowl. He dunk his spoon into the milky cereal and took a bite, swallowing too quickly. Iruka was still standing next to him, hand on his chair, not leaving.

Then, Iruka walked around his chair and sat down on his bedside, playing with his fingers.

Naruto swallowed his next bite a little slower, looking at Iruka questioningly.

"Naruto..." Iruka paused, running a hand over his hair, before looking back up. "We got some news back from the Med University."

"Ah," Naruto said, eyes flickering back to the computer screen. He wondered if the Uchiha boy would suddenly send him an email, with a Ping. That made him smile a bit.

"They haven't finished the blood tests yet... but there's a new medication out. It's a strap on machine, to your arm, and it monitors your blood and medicates it consistantly so that you won't have to go through so much hassle as normal..."

Naruto nodded, not really understanding.

"I could bring it by tomorrow... for you to try..."

"Yeah sure," Naruto said quickly, nodding again.

"Good," Iruka sighed, smiling. Naruto smiled back and watched him get up and leave the room.

Naruto spun around on his chair to face his computer again, dropping the spoon back into the unfinished cereal. Within a few quick taps he had opened up a new email page. His heart was already beginning to thud a little harder as he fingered the keyboard, wondering how to start off the email.

He smiled quietly to himself as the computer hummed and the sound of typing filled the room.

* * *

Sasuke laid there on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. 

Empty.

He had expected that waking up would be the same as normal, thrashing around on his bed and sweating cold. That would be because of his nightmares. Cold, bloody nightmares which haunted him at night and made him wake up shivering.

But not this morning. This time... his mind was otherwise preoccupied, not that he had chosen so.

Not wanting to dwell on it for too long, he sat up and flung his legs over his bedside. The first thing he did was reach out to his desk and open his laptop. He began to get dressed, letting the laptop start up on it's own.

It wasn't long before the white laptop glowed quietly and the blue background came up.

Slipping on a shirt, he wandered back to his laptop and opened up his email.

Nothing yet.

He held back the urge to sigh. He had been an idiot, an absolute_ idiot_ to send a reply email back to that foxandhound boy.

Not that he cared.

Nope.

Forcing it out of his mind, he decided he had more important things to do. He went into his bathroom, doing his daily routine of washing his face and brushing his teeth. And halfway through rinsing his mouth, he could hear a distant little _Ping._

His black eyes widened as he spat out the water and quickly ran back to his laptop, searching for the alert.

**You have just recieved an Email **

He released the hold on his breathe as he clicked on the email alert, knowing that it must be this foxandhound boy. So he hadn't bee ignoring him...

Impatiently he waited for the email to load.

_HEY!!! _He blinked as he read that first word, a small smile twitching on his lips.

_i knew you werent THAT mean inside! otherwise, why would you write all that stuff huh. and yeah, i'm from japan. what makes you think im not in class as well, of course i am!! I'm teh smartest one in my CLASS... you bet._

_anyway, whatcha doing? i'm eating breakfast right now, but i bet youre like one of those study nerds huh. Are you even there? tell me all about your school or something, or your friends, anything.  
_

_reply, yknow... if you want... um_

_bye then!_

_from naruto_

By now, Sasuke already had a fully fledged smile sitting on his face. Smug, because he knew this Naruto boy was desperate for his attention. He could almost imagine the scrawly handwriting, and the sweet childlike quality to his words.

It was refreshing.

Wiping his lips, he reread the email. He tapped lightly at the reply button.

* * *

Naruto scooped another spoonfull of cereal into his mouth, reading the email he had just sent. Did he sound too eager? Too obvious? Too annoying? 

All those worrys faded away as a reassuring _Ping _immediately followed 2 minutes later.

**You have just recieved an Email **

He settled the spoon down and tapped on the email page.

_Hi again._

_I'm getting changed for school right now, aren't you? _

_And regarding to the questions about my school and friends; who cares? They're nothing that important to me. _Upon reading that line, Naruto frowned. He licked his lips as he continued to read.

_I can tell from your writing that you have the mental age of 5... _Naruto snorted at this, knowing that the other boy was only being playful this time. _...anyway, do you have a picture? It's not usual for me to make online friends, and besides, you've already seen my photo. _

Naruto stared at the screen, rereading that line.

_...do you have a picture... _?

"Crap," Naruto whispered to himself.

* * *

Sasuke settled himself down into his seat, knowing that he would get an email reply quickly. 

Sure enough, there was a _Ping_.

**You have just recieved an Email **

_ummm... I dont have a picture... sorry..._

That was it. One line.

Sasuke snorted to himself. A minute ago, he was grinning at the email he had recieved, but now he was coming back to his senses. This was just some foolish little kid messing around online, trying to look for some friends.

* * *

Naruto bit his lip, feeling guilty for not being able to send a photo. He had none, apart from one with Iruka, but he couldn't send that one...! He was only a little kid then. Hell, he hardly knew what he looked like now. 

He looked at his reflection in the computer screen, suddenly self concious of his looks. He knew that he had blue eyes and blonde hair, but he never looked properly at any mirror.

He jumped as a _Ping _interrupted him.

**You have just recieved an Email **

_No picture? Right... what about webcam? A mobile number? _

Naruto gripped the edge of his seat, paling as he read the short email. _Oh god_... he had none of those. No pictures, no webcam, no mobile, nothing.

_NOTHING_.

How was he supposed to gain this person's trust when he was literally a nobody in this world? Nothing to prove his identity?

He chewed nervously on his lip, wondering what sort of excuse he could make up, but before he could...

_Ping _

**You have just recieved an Email **

He quickly pressed it.

One word on the email page.

_Whatever. _

Naruto blinked back the salty feeling building up in his eyes.

_Damnit..._

* * *

_XX KEIJI _


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer - **I don't own Naruto or any of the Characters

* * *

**Connected  
By Keiji**_  
Life goes flying by the speed of sound_  
**  
Pairing - **Sasuke and Naruto  
**Summary - **Naruto hardly sees life outside the four walls of his room, because of his illness. Yet, he meets someone on the internet... his first friend. His saviour, his light. Maybe... its a start of a new life.

* * *

_Ping _

**_You have just recieved an Email _**

_He quickly pressed it._

_One word on the email page._

_" Whatever. "_

_Naruto blinked back the salty feeling building up in his eyes._

_Damnit..._

_

* * *

_

"Naruto... wake up Naruto..."

Iruka gently shook Naruto's shoulder, earning a groan from the blonde boy who was taking a nap. The blonde rubbed his eyes, slowly sitting up. After a small yawn, he gave Iruka a sleepy smile, huddling up in his blankets.

"The new medication is here. Genma-san is from the med university. He's going to show you how to use it, alright?"

Naruto nodded numbly, still weary from napping.

"I'll just go get him," Iruka ruffled his hair, before disappearing out the room.

Naruto hunched over on his bed, wrapping his arms around his knee's. He gazed to his side, looking at his computer before looking away.

It had been over 24 hours since the last email that the Uchiha had sent, and Naruto had been arguing with himself whether to send a reply or not. There was simply no way he could. On one hand, he could send an angry email back... but then what was the point if he didn't have a picture to show him? Two, he could send an email begging and explaining, but that was simply out of the question.

Part of him secretly wanted the Uchiha to send an email back, asking where he was, and apologizing for being so demanding... rude... pompous...

Naruto sighed.

Why on earth was he trying to be friends with this jerk anyway.

But before he could begin to contemplate this question, the door opened and Iruka returned with the presumed Genma-san behind him.

Naruto looked up, immediately flashing a cheerful grin to the new comer.

"Ohayo, Genma-san!" He quickly said, in the best happy voice he could handle. He rarely got to see other people apart from Iruka.

"...did he take any medication this morning?"

"Only one dose, it's always been like that..."

"...here... you'll need to sign this..."

"Ne... do I write his number..."

"...right here.."

Finally the man glanced over at Naruto, flicking the senbon in his mouth, as Iruka looked over the documents.

"Ohayo..." Naruto repeated faintly.

Genma, who Naruto noted had a senbon between his lips, paused as he looked at him.

"So... this is Naruto..." He said softly.

Iruka handed back the papers, nodding. Naruto bit his lip. Why was Genma looking at him like that all of a sudden?

"I trust you keep him safely..."

Iruka nodded again. Genma walked over to Naruto's bedside, the blonde was still biting his lip nervously, watching as Genma began to unpack something from his bag.

"Here," Genma smiled, holding some sort of contraption in his hands.

Naruto backed up a bit, sitting on his pillow as he clenched the blankets, paling as he looked at the strange item.

"What's... that.."

"Give me your arm," Genma said, in a somewhat calm voice. "Trust me, after using this, you won't have to go through all the other needles. You'll live normally."

"...normally?" Naruto bit his lip, relaxing slightly. Iruka walked over and sat next to Naruto, wrapping an arm around him comfortingly.

"Just try it, it's going to be better for you."

Naruto nodded uncertainly. He hesitated before holding out his arm, almost flinching when Genma took it.

"Alright?" Genma checked, merely holding his arm, chuckling at his nervousness. Naruto smiled bravely and nodded, clutching onto Iruka with his other hand as he watched Genma begin to strap on the new medication to his arm.

"Iruka..." He whispered, eyes widening slightly as he saw a few glass tubes on the arm strap. Iruka stroked his blonde hair soothingly, holding him still.

Genma took out some wipes, taking the tips of the thin, flexible needles and making sure they were disenfected. He took the wires which were portruding, putting white patches on them and sticking them onto various parts of his arm, securing it with med tape.

"This is just for checkups... to see how you're doing..." Genma noted, senbon shifting to the other side of his mouth, working on it.

Naruto remembered to breath, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. He felt slightly dizzy.

"I'm going to insert the needles now, alright? It will probably hurt a bit..."

Iruka shot Genma a look.

"...you won't feel a thing," Genma corrected himself hastily. "Ready?"

Naruto nodded, turning his head away and closing his eyes, holding onto Iruka.

It felt like forever, waiting, until with a swift and sudden mechanical _chhhkk, _the needles were inserted into his arms. Naruto jerked, blue eyes snapping open as a burning sensation hit his arm. He tried to jerk his arm back, finding that Genma had a firm grip on him. He stifled a cry, his eyes singing with tears.

"...it might feel a little weird... it has to draw up blood to level out... the medication..." Genma said, trying to make it sound simple. "It might come as a bit of a shock the first time..."

Naruto bit his lip and closed his eyes, the pain in his arm never subsiding. Slowly, he looked at the contraption on his arm. He could see one of the tubes filling up with red.

He paled.

Suddenly, everything was seeming a little fazed out. He could hear a rushing gurgling noise fill his ears and he opened his mouth, gasping. Distantly, he heard Genma's firm voice say 'Hold him' to Iruka, before he slipped into blackness, his airways blocking up.

He choked, trying to force his body to relax but he couldn't, as he felt chemicals already rushing into his body and making him jerk involuntarily. He tried kicking, anything to get that heavy weight off his chest... until finally, he could feel the sinking feeling begin to fade away.

It took a few minutes before he finally managed to collapse heavily, breathing for air. Glazed eyes looked around for Iruka, and he found him clutching onto his hand.

A ringing entered his ears as he tuned back, listening to Iruka's calming voice.

Genma slowly let go of Naruto's arm.

Naruto sighed out, glancing at the contraption again, trying not to feel sick.

He knew it was the medicine injected into his arms so suddenly that made him go haywire. He couldn't control the way he reacted to them, but at least now, the effects were quickly subsiding.

"Naruto, I was going to bring some lunch up. What would you like?" Iruka asked, trying to distract Naruto. "Sandwich?"

Naruto nodded, deciding it was best to look away from his arm.

Genma began to pack his bag. "Now, you can't rip this off. It's ok to take into the shower, so you won't ever have to take it off, you understand?"

More nodding.

Then, Naruto looked up at Genma and gave a weak grin. "Thank you Genma-san..."

"No problem," Genma smiled, faltering slightly. "It's nice to see that you're always putting on a brave face."

Naruto perked up. "Yes..." He grinned, feeling a bit of color return to his cheeks. It was always the same. After the initial phase of shock, he always felt clean, pure energy flowing through him again. It made him feel alive.

"I'll come back next week to see how you're doing. You should find waking up a lot more comfortable," Genma paused, looking at Naruto. "Ja ne... Naruto."

Naruto tilted his head, noticing the slight sadness in Genma's voice. Genma left, and Iruka placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm proud of you," Iruka said awkwardly, smiling. "Hey, how about this, I'm going shopping later so... would you like anything? My treat, for being such a brave boy."

Naruto grinned, trying his best to hug Iruka's waist with one arm.

Iruka chuckled. "Anything you like, you name it. I could get those new games I saw the other day.. what was it called?" Iruka frowned, thinking to himself. "...war and guns...? I'll have to check..."

"Oh, Iruka..." Naruto suddenly said, his breath catching in his throat. "...could I... could you get me..."

"Hmm?" Iruka said, unable to hear Naruto's mumbling.

"..get me a webcam?"

Iruka froze, looking at Naruto with a confused expression.

Naruto felt his stomach flip. Of course, why would he need a webcam, he had no one to webcam _with. _He mentally kicked himself for being such an idiot, now Iruka would be suspicious. He had no reason to have a webcam.

Iruka gave a small laugh, still confused. "But Naruto-kun... what... I mean, what would you do with it?"

Naruto bit his lip. "Well, you have a webcam too soo..." an idea flashed through Naruto's mind, and he crossed his fingers beneath the blankets. "I get lonely here and... I was hoping that I could keep in touch with you when you're working at school, so I won't feel alone."

Iruka nodded slowly, thinking about it. He made an 'oh' with his lips, then smiled.

"Of course, I understand."

"...arigatou!!" Naruto squeezed his arm tightly around Iruka, burying his head into his jumper.

"Hey, hey, alright... it's just a present," Iruka chuckled.

Naruto smiled up at him as Iruka kissed his forehead.

"Ja ne, be good."

"I will."

Iruka closed the door as he left, and Naruto sat quietly by himself in the silence.

The only sound that filled the room it seemed, was his heart beat, thudding a little faster. There was only one thing on his mind.

_Uchiha._

Trying to control his breathing, cheeks slightly pink with sudden excitement, he slipped off his bed and stumbled to his computer chair. He flicked the computer on from standby and grabbed the mouse, impatient for it to load.

The computer whirred as he opened his email page. He placed his hands on the keyboard.

For a second, he had to look down at his arm with the strapped on medication, shivering slightly. It was slightly heavy, and scraping against his desk as he began to type.

He felt a little guilty, lying to Iruka, yet now he couldn't help but feel giddy with... hope?

Yes that was it. Hope.

* * *

_Ping._

**You have just recieved an email...**

Sasuke glanced up from his textbook, his pen stilled in his hand. Shifting slowly, he put the pen down and opened the email.

_Uchiha-teme...!!! _...the first line literally yelled. Sasuke gave a little snort, immediately knowing who this was from. Naruto.

He couldn't help but feel his heart give a little jump. He had thought that this energetic, seemingly over eager and sweet innocent boy had given up sending emails to him. The entire morning he couldn't help but wonder whether Naruto had decided to find someone nicer to talk to.

_You know you're a jerk, right? If you wanted to see me so badly you could've just asked nicely... che._

He smirked.

_i've asked my... dad to get me a webcam. dont get cocky and think i did this for you, teme, i just wanted to prove you wrong_

_and you better have a webcam too you know, so i can see you too... not that i want to, bastard .._

Sasuke almost laughed... almost, when he read that line. It sounded as if Naruto was trying not to sound too eager, but he could sense the excitement in his writing.

_...i hope you havent blocked me... _

_sometimes, i wonder why i even bother trying to email you. first you're interested, then you're a total jerk. _

_its just that i dont think i can talk to anyone else about this apart from you.  
_

_sounds weird huh.._

_it's nothing really. i just wake up, feeling as if as though every day is the same, and i know its going to be like this for the rest of my life. it sounds depressing when i think about it.. im just rambling to get it off my mind, ignore me. _

The smile slowly slipped from Sasuke's lips, as he noticed the writing style change dramatically. Suddenly, this Naruto was sounding serious. Of what?

_anyway, see you later. just name a time for us to meet on webcam.  
_

_naruto_

Sasuke leaned back in his chair, the words from Naruto's emails still whirling around slowly in his head.

Naruto was right when he said that they had something in common. As much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn't help but feel the same. _...waking up and feeling as if as though every day is the same... and i know its going to be like this for the rest of my life... _

After a moment's pause, he clicked on the reply email.

* * *

Naruto brought his knee's up and huddled quietly, rocking his computer chair a bit. He wondered how long it would take for the Uchiha to reply, if he even did. 

A minute went by.

Two minutes.

Naruto knew he was being paranoid but what if...

_Ping._

He quickly sat forward and grabbed the mouse, biting his lip, feeling relieved.

**You have just recieved an email...**

He clicked on it, forcing himself to keep calm.

_Naruto,_

_I suppose an apology is in place for being so abrupt yesterday. I just had alot going on for the past few weeks. Unlike you, my supervisor has been trying to get me to transfer to a medical research faculty to work for them._

_Anyway, I do have a webcam. Perhaps tomorrow at 7 pm?_

_I'm busy right now, so you'll just have to miss me. _... Naruto huffed and grinned when he read this. Cocky bastard...

_...Sasuke_

Naruto blinked, then read the name again.

Sasuke.

His blue eyes widened slightly in realization. It was the first time the Uchiha had told him his name. Sasuke.

The blonde had to force himself not to go spinning around on his computer chair with happiness. Ridiculous happiness.

"Sasuke..." He tested, nibbling on his tongue and giving a small giggle. "Sasuke Uchiha...!"

The name filled the small dark room, almost with a sort of grandeur. Naruto sighed, saying Sasuke's name under his breath once more, sinking into the way the name sounded. Was it just him, or did his name sound so silky and grand at the same time?

Smiling to himself, he decided he liked Sasuke, definitely, despite his tendency to be a jerk sometimes.

_7 pm... webcam..._

His heart gave a flip.

He couldn't wait.

* * *

xx keiji 

muahahaha no one has guessed what Naruto's illness is yet xD

che, the uchiha and his moodswings huh... got to sort that out frowns and kills keyboard


	5. Chapter 5

**Connected  
By Keiji**_  
Life goes flying by the speed of sound_  
**  
Pairing - **Sasuke and Naruto  
**Summary - **Naruto hardly sees life outside the four walls of his room, because of his illness. Yet, he meets someone on the internet... his first friend. His saviour, his light. Maybe... its a start of a new life.

* * *

"Sasuke."

The raven haired boy did not respond, silky black hair carefully hiding his face as he wrote on the textbook.

"Listen to me Sasuke, Tsunade would be a great teacher..."

Once again the raven ignored him, seeming to write a little faster and harder onto the paper, gripping the pen tightly in his hand. His head dipped a little forward as if pretending the other wasn't there.

Then a hand touched his arm. "Sasuke..."

"Don't, Hatake." Sasuke said, jerking his arm away abruptly. Black eyes glared at the silver haired man standing next to him; Kakashi Hatake, a man who had tutored him for the past 5 years.

"You don't have to be such a strop," The older man said, brushing stray silver hair from his face. He leaned against the desk which Sasuke was working on. "You know... it really is the best choice. I know plenty who would die to be in your place."

Sasuke huffed audibly, dropping his pen and running both hands through his dark hair.

"It's... just that... I wanted to go into the same feild as my brother..." He mumbled.

Kakashi tilted his head. "Cytology? It's uncommon..."

"I know it is, but..." Sasuke hesitated.

The silver haired man smiled. "No need to say, I understand. However... there aren't many courses available to study Cytology. You'd be hard pressed to even find a single institution... I'd say... even outside of Japan."

"There is... well... there must be..." Sasuke looked down at the textbook, and the splatters of ink from his pen.

Kakashi sighed slowly. "Yes, there is one Cytologist I know of, probably someone your brother related to."

Sasuke looked at him, obsidian eyes saying all they needed to.

"His name is Dr. Orochimaru..." Kakashi said slowly, almost reluctantly. "It's... not advisable to mix with that sort of type..."

"Where can I find him?"

"Sasuke..."

The raven looked down again, black eyes boring into the textbook again. "I see. You mean to say that... he is one of those rogue scientists... and if I associate myself with him I would be disreputed..."

"Exactly," Kakashi said, leaning off the desk. "Trust me, Tsunade is the best feild of medical expertise you could enter. You're top of the class ten times over, you've been offered a place there unconditionally already."

Sasuke ran his fingers over the pages, looking blankly at the blurred text. "Alright then."

Kakashi gave a small smile, then drew out a folder, placing it in front of the Uchiha.

"Right then... You'll have to start filling out this form..."

* * *

Naruto gazed at the screen of his computer.

His room was dark, as usual, save for the few glimpses of light shining through the cracks of the closed windows. There was a cool glow coming off the monitor, lighting his skin with dark blue.

He was on the Uchiha's website again.

Blue eyes ran over the various little writings which the Uchiha had posted. Rarely did there seem to be any photographs, and when there were, they were obscured and dark.

Apart from that picture on the front page, with the pale lithe throat and the never-ending depths of those black eyes.

..._I suppose an apology is in place for being so abrupt yesterday..._

Naruto smiled, rembering the last email the Uchiha sent.

_I'm busy right now, so you'll just have to miss me..._

_Sasuke._

Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke... Naruto hadn't thought of anything else since he read the name.

Even when he was lying in bed in the pitch black, thinking that was what it must be like if you stared at him for too long, dreaming of his name over and over again and imagining what his smile looks like.

Naruto bit his lip, eyes glancing down to the keyboard.

His eyes traveled further to his arm where the mechanical contraption was strapped on the day before.

Thin tubes and glass were filled with a crimson stain of blood, constantly flowing in and out. He couldn't feel a thing, but nonetheless, the heaviness of the metal was an awkward reminder.

Biting his lip again he ran his fingers lightly over the contraption.

He was still surprised that the Uchiha had even bothered with him, to even _reply_ to him. A small smile edged onto his lips. It made him feel warm inside, the fact that someone as beautiful as him wanted to talk back.

Blue eyes glanced at the clock. Almost 7.

Feeling his breathing catch up, he pulled his legs onto the chair and held them tightly.

He could feel his heart thudding lightly.

What if... no.

But what if he didn't like him, after seeing him on webcam? Afterall, he was nothing like the elegant looking Uchiha.

Suddenly he panicked. He had forgotten. What did he look like?

He never had a mirror, not even in the toilet, but then again, he never needed it.

Biting his lip he looked at his computer screen trying to see his reflection. Unkempt blonde hair, the slight glint of his blue eyes. No dirty marks on his face, at least, but he couldn't help feeling like a mess.

Five minutes past 7.

He quickly refreshed the internet page, leaning forward on the computer chair.

Nothing yet.

He refreshed again, knowing it seemed pointless but at the same time hoping...

Nothing.

He pushed back from the computer desk, leaning into his chair and gazing at the screen with glazed blue eyes. His eyes flinched as he saw his reflection in the computer screen again.

_Ping._

**You have just recieved an Instant Cam Conversation. Do you accept?**

The blonde almost dropped off his chair as he grabbed for the mouse and shook it so he could move it to click _accept_.

He couldn't help but grin, heart thudding again.

"Sasuke..." He mumbled to himself, feeling panicked but calm at the same time.

The screen was loading slowly, but surely. Two window's opened. One was himself, the other was black.

His blue eyes frowned slightly as he saw himself in the cam. It felt momentarily weird, almost as if he was a stranger to himself, then suddenly his eyes widened.

The contraption on his arm.

Frantically he searched around for something to cover it with. Nothing. The bedsheets were too far away to reach, there was no way he could stumble there in time and back.

Blue eyes blankened slightly. Almost automatically he reached down with his right hand and tore the thing off. The long needles slid out of his arm effortlessly, burning. He winced, feeling his eyes water slightly until the entire machine was out, then threw the contraption onto the floor and kicked it aside.

Just in time. The Uchiha's window flickered to life just as he was clutching his arm to soothe the burns.

His breath caught in his throat.

* * *

Sasuke tapped at the desk, anxious.

The other window where Naruto was supposed to be was still black, and for a moment he wondered if everything had just been a hoax.

No, it couldn't have been. All those emails... they were too real.

He could feel the other boy's existance.

Suddenly the other window came to life. Naruto.

_Naruto. _

It was dark on the other side, as if the curtains had been drawn and the lights turned off.

But he could still make out the vague blonde hair, a crumpled orange shirt with a swirl on it. The boy was rubbing his arm slowly as if there was something to clean.

Then the boy looked up.

Blue.

Blue eyes.

Sasuke felt his lips part slightly as he gazed at that new shade of colour.

It was... strangely warm, as if it wasn't coming off a computer screen, but as if he could see the boy face to face.

He was... He didn't know what Naruto was.

Soft blond hair, ruffled in differant directions and some falling over the warm river blue eyes. Lips with the lightest hint of pink, as Naruto bit them nervously. Pale skin, but not pale enough to hide the scars that he could just make out on each of his cheeks.

He mentally shook his head.

"Naruto?"

The boy's eyes seemed to light up, a broad smile slipping onto his lips.

"_Hi_," the voice said, almost a little out of breath. "_Sasuke_."

The raven couldn't help but feel a smile edging onto the side of his own lips. The blond gave a small laugh, his face glowing as he ran his hands through his hair as if trying to tame it.

_"Umm... so... wow..."_ The blond grinned. _"I can't believe it,"_

"Can't believe what?" Sasuke replied, leaning against his elbow on his desk, studying the blond boy.

Naruto grinned shyly, face looking down as he played with his fingers, then glanced back up with those blue eyes again. Sasuke couldn't help but feel a twinge.

_"Can't believe I'm doing this, like..."_ Naruto waved at the cam and bit his lip. _"Talking to you. I can't believe you're talking to me,"_

Sasuke laughed shortly. "Dobe," He said, smiling almost softly.

Naruto seemed to scrunch up his nose slightly at the sound of the insulting nickname, still grinning.

_"I'm not a dobe, teme,"_ He smiled, biting his lip. _"I'm glad you're here. Well, you know, camming with me."_

Sasuke scoffed, smirking as he looked down at his keyboard then back to the blond boy.

"Why, don't have anyone else to cam with?" He jested.

Naruto's smile seemed to suddenly falter slightly. _"No way, I have loads of friends to cam with,"_ He said quickly. _"Like... Like Iruka, he's my best friend. I didn't have to cam with you, jerk,"_

Sasuke grinned slightly. "I was only joking, baka. Besides, I don't cam with anyone. I find it pointless."

The blond made a small 'o', sitting back in his chair dejectedly. _"So... what we're doing now... is pointless?"_

"Course not," Sasuke wiped a stray strand of hair behind his ear. "I just don't do it often."

_"I see,"_ Naruto nodded, blue eyes looking as if they were thinking deeply.

"Well," Sasuke said, sitting up properly in his chair and lacing his fingers together. "Aren't you going to tell me anything about yourself?"

Blue eyes lit up. _"You want to know?"_ Naruto's voice sounded surprised, and excited.

"Well what else are we going to do, dobe," Sasuke snorted.

Naruto scrunched his nose up again, sticking his tongue out lightly at him. It made Sasuke smirk. The blonde seemed to think for a while, biting his finger slowly.

_"Well... I guess... um... What do you want to know about me?"_

Sasuke tilted his head, slightly confused by the question. "I don't know, start anywhere. Like, family?"

Naruto opened his mouth then closed it, blue eyes blank. They looked downwards as he began to trace things onto his desktop.

"Um... well... I don't know... why dont you tell me about your family first?"

Sasuke froze stiffly. "No." Pause. "I'm not going to tell you, dobe."

The blue eyes looked hurt, and confused. _"What do you mean? You asked me..."_

"That's differant."

The blond frowned. "_Wait a minute teme, why do you get to ask me but I can't ask you?"_

"Because I said so," Sasuke shot back stubbornly, turning his head away. He could feel his heartbeat pulse.

_"Fine,"_ Naruto snapped back, crossing his arms.

There was an awkward pause in between. Sasuke glanced back at the cam.

The blond was leaning forward now, head tilted downwards.

_"Sasuke..."_

"What, dobe," The raven huffed, grabbing his mouse and hovering over the close button. He hated being irritated so easily.

_"I'm sorry..."_

Sasuke stopped. Black eyes glanced at the blond boy who was gazing back at the screen with those warm blue eyes again, and inside he could feel himself melt.

"I shouldn't have been rude," Sasuke said shortly, since the other had apologized.

There was a quiet laugh.

_"Well... I... if you want to know about my family I don't mind saying..."_ There was a pause._ "I have a great dad I guess... he makes me food all the time... I have a small sister, and a mom, and a grandma..."_

Sasuke looked at the screen, slightly annoyed still but at the same time trying to will himself to calm down.

"Obviously," He huffed. "Everyone has mom's and dad's and grandma's."

Those blue eyes seemed to glint almost sadly. Sasuke frowned.

_"Yeah I guess."_

Sasuke sighed slowly. "Sorry for being such a jerk again... It's just that... everything's been so complicated for me I just hate having to do it every single day. And then, well... as for family... I don't really have any."

Naruto looked up at him.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. "I used to have family, but that was ages ago. I didn't have a mom or dad since I was 8. That is all."

Naruto smiled softly, blue eyes half closed.

"Why are you smiling?" Sasuke muttered, feeling conflicted.

_"Nothing, just that... I'm glad I found you."_ Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. _" I'm glad because... I feel like... there's something about you that feels like a part of me... if that makes any sense..."_

"Well I'm glad you 'found' me too I guess," the raven smiled. "It's weird, you get me so... confused I suppose. It's not a bad thing."

Sasuke gazed at the cam screen, watching the blond boy. His head was tilting sideways, blue eyes almost completely shut. Soft tangly blond hair almost glowed off the screen, accompanied with the pale smile on his lips.

Then Sasuke frowned. Even though it was dark in Naruto's room, he could still see the sharp red.

Sharp crimson red on his arm.

"Naruto..."

_"Mmm?"_ Naruto mumbled back incoherantly.

"Naruto... is that... is that blood on your arm?"

The blond opened his eyes wearily and looked down at his arm. Blood was oozing between his fingers dripping down his skin and onto his shorts. He blinked blurrily.

"Is that blood, Naruto? What happened?" Sasuke felt himself panic, leaning forward as if somehow he could be closer to the blond. "Did you do that to yourself? Naruto! Answer me!"

He heard something from Naruto's side, the sound of thudding. Suddenly the room filled with light, when the door behind him opened. Everything went white for a moment.

"Naruto!" A new voice yelled.

Sasuke gripped the mouse in his hand, eyes scanning the cam screen. He saw Naruto's blue eyes frantically look back at the computer screen. One last look. Then everything went black.

**Connection has been closed.**

Sasuke stared at the empty screen.

Blank.

As if something had been shredded away from him.

"Naruto..." He whispered.

* * *

Ohyay. please review. :(

xx kei


	6. Chapter 6

**Connected  
By Keiji**_  
Life goes flying by the speed of sound_  
**  
Pairing - **Sasuke and Naruto  
**Summary - **Naruto hardly sees life outside the four walls of his room, because of his illness. Yet, he meets someone on the internet... his first friend. His saviour, his light. Maybe... its a start of a new life.

* * *

_Heavy water._

_Faint blond hair swirled in the currents, half covering the pale face._

_The boy moved his arm, feeling the cold numb water gush around it. Suspended in air which felt like liquid._

_Shivering, the boy tried to force himself to open his eyes. Slowly, the eyelids parted and two watery blue irises gazed into the misty abyss of the water. He couldn't see anything._

_Squinting, he struggled to see the distant images swimming into view. _

_He thought he could see a house. Houses._

_And people._

_But... the people were lying down..._

_"Daddy...!" He heard that faint scream, dulled by the water surrounding him._

_Suddenly the water seemed to be moving. He tried to move his arms and legs, anything to move, but the water was pushing him downwards, pressing against him._

_Everything turned red, gushing from all around him and sending chills up his spine._

_He opened his mouth in terror, bubbles of air escaping as water forced down his sore throat._

_He screamed._

* * *

"Iruka!" He gasped.

Everything was white as he tried to open his eyes, arms struggling. Someone was holding him down.

"Calm... Naruto..."

Breathing heavily, he stopped trying to move and leaned back against the pillow, feeling a hand soothing his forehead. He pressed his eyes closed tight, biting his lip to slow down his breathing.

"Will he be alright?" A voice asked uneasily.

"Yes," A momentary pause. "We got here just in time."

Naruto tried to open his eyes again, blinking blurrily at the two men standing by his bed. He opened his mouth, trying to work out something to say.

"Where's... Iruka...?" He asked faintly. His blue eyes darted around the room, trying to find the him.

The two men looked at each other. One was Genma. He hesitated.

"Iruka... will be back home tonight," He replied, but he didn't sound confident.

Naruto frowned, his head panging.

All he could remember was having trying to stop the blood escaping from his arm... it wasn't hurting... it felt... numb at the time. As if it was just thick water, not blood.

Then, the door opened and the last he remembering doing was to close the Uchiha cam window.

Just in case.

"...Naruto... are you listening?"

His blue eyes flickered up to look at Genma.

"We need to know, why did you... take the medication off?"

Naruto licked his lips nervously, his hand moving automatically to his arm to find that it was bandaged up in white.

"I..." He began slowly. "It..."

"Don't worry, we won't be cross," Genma said comfortingly, patting his arm. "We would just like to know."

Naruto lowered his eyes to the bedsheets crumpled over his body. "I guess... it just didn't look right..."

Genma frowned, taking out a pen. Naruto could hear him writing down notes.

"You mean something went wrong with it? That is unusual..."

He hesitated. "I meant, it looked..." he struggled to find the right word. "weird." He finally said uneasily.

The pen stopped moving.

"Weird?" Genma asked.

"Yes, I mean... what if... what if people see it and they'll..." Naruto bit his lip.

Genma frowned, tilting his head. "We're the only ones who see you," He laughed slightly. "And Iruka, and he doesn't mind, it's a good thing because it's helping you with medication."

Naruto didn't respond for a while.

"Look, the medication... you do need it Naruto. Will you promise not to tear it off if we give you a new one? For Iruka?"

Slowly, the blond nodded.

At first, Genma reached out to touch his head and ruffle his hair comfortably, but then withdrew his arm.

"Good boy," He said briefly instead. "Now, Raido, help me hold him down..."

* * *

The white laptop sat ominously on the table.

A low hum filled the room, accompanied by the occasional sound of clicking of the mouse. Another click, and the screen turned blank, then reloaded to the same page lighting up the pale face which was facing it.

"Damn it Naruto..." Sasuke sighed, turning away from the laptop and forcing himself to stare at his study books.

He hadn't slept all night.

In fact, he _couldn't_ sleep all night. Every two seconds he was up and on the white laptop, refreshing his email page.

But there was no response from the boy.

He rubbed his slender fingers over his eyes and face wearily, glancing up at the clock which blinked 10:00 am.

What _did_ the dobe do? It just seemed... strange.

Seeing the crimson blood oozing over the pale skin of the boy made him shiver, even though he was accustomed to seeing blood every day. It felt differant.

Why would... it wasn't like the dobe. Not according to what he sounded like in his emails, where he sounded so bright and childlike, almost _naive_ in a sense. And definitely defiant.

It just seemed so unlikely someone like him would... cut himself.

Sasuke frowned and sighed, rubbing his face again.

Maybe it wasn't a cut. It didn't add up.

Picking up his pen he pressed it against the paper, determined to write something, but his mind was blank again. Otherwise occupied with thoughts of the blond boy.

"Damnit," he muttered to himself.

He hated the fact that he couldn't concentrate. He hated the fact that he could be so easily riled and made anxious by some random stranger on the internet.

But... Naruto didn't feel like a stranger at all.

His eyes softened at the memory of the boy.

Naruto felt more like... a big ball of warmth. Sasuke snorted to himself at the mental description. But to be honest, he had never imagined that the boy would look so... so...

There wasn't a word for him.

Frustrated, Sasuke couldn't help but turn to the laptop again, fingers itching to find out if there was a reply.

_Naruto_,

He typed hesitantly.

_You better reply dobe, and tell me what's happening._

_I'm worried..._

Sasuke paused, then hit the delete key. It sounded stupid.

Rarely had he ever found himself so wiped out like this, as if he were the one hanging on threads to find out what was going on instead of the other way around.

_Naruto,_

_you better reply dobe, and tell me whats happening._

_Sasuke._

Half satisfied with the email, he clicked send. He picked up his pen again and decided to leave the lingering thoughts on the blond boy behind whilst he worked.

It worked, temporarily.

_Ping._

Sasuke half threw half dropped the pen as he scooted back to the white laptop.

**You have just recieved an email...**

Reminding himself to breath properly, he clicked open and waited for the page to load.

The email flickered open, and to his relief, it was from foxandhound.

_Hey teme,_ a small jolt went through Sasuke's being and he sighed. Definitely the dobe.

_just wanted to say i'm finnee, it was nothing. i mean, it was a small accident. I had an accident with a bike._

Sasuke frowned at the short explanation.

_Anyway that cam conversation yesterday was great, like i said, i was so glad you actually cammed with me, and i finally got to see you. i was a mess yesterday anyway. _

_Oh yeah i forgot, I told you i'd prove it to your face and get a webcam! now you know what i look like... happy now?_

_naruto._

The raven smiled a bit at that, then hit the reply email.

* * *

Naruto waited nervously for the response.

He had been tempted to send an email first, but he wasn't sure how to start it. Hi I just ripped out a machine from my arm, that was why I was bleeding, can we go back to chatting again?

Hugging his knee's tightly he looked at the bandaged arm and the contraption strapped on top of it.

He shivered at having to go through that similar process of attaching it on.

_Ping_.

**You have just recieved an email...**

Biting his lip, Naruto grabbed the mouse and clicked open.

_Dobe, i'm not an idiot._

_You think you can get away with just a 'bike accident'? I don't believe you._

_What are you doing at home anyway, from the looks of how much blood you lost, you should be in hospital at least for a night. _

_Explain yourself. Actually, whilst you are at home, lets talk. On cam._

_Sasuke._

Naruto's eyes widened slightly. On cam...? But...

He chewed his lip nervously. How was he going to explain the strapped on machine to his arm?

He tapped reply.

_Teme,_

_I told you I'm fine, and I don't want to go on cam. you've seen me, thats all you needed right? _

_can't we just keep talking?_

_naruto._

He sent the email. Then waited for the reply. Somehow he had the feeling in his gut that it wouldn't turn out like what he asked.

_Ping._

**You have just recieved an email...**

_No, dobe. Get on cam._

Naruto glared half heartedly at the single line email.

_Ping._

**You have just recieved an Instant Cam Conversation. Do you accept?**

Naruto looked at the invitation and bit his lip. He did want to see the Uchiha again...

Insides twinging, he accepted.

Once again, the two cam screens came up on his monitor and he could see himself. He winced at the sight of the contraption on his arm, tucking it under his other arm to hide it as best as he could.

The other screen suddenly turned on.

"Sasuke," He said quietly, giving a feeble grin.

The Uchiha was wearing the same clothes from yesterday, dark blue and contrasting with the beautiful ivory like skin. Even his slightly tousled sleek hair still looked good.

He sighed, drinking in the image of the live raven, and those concerned dark eyes.

_"Naruto,"_ there was a hitch in Sasuke's voice. _"What happened?"_

"Nothing, I said," Naruto replied indignantly, a pink dusting his cheeks.

_"Show me your arm."_

"No," Naruto bit his lip, glancing at the Uchiha who was looking back at him intently. "Can't we just forget it all?"

_"Forget," _the raven said sourly. _"You just barged in, insisted on having a cam conversation, then left me hanging there thinking you were dead or something."_

Naruto winced at the sound of his voice. "Shut up teme, you wanted the cam conversation."

_"You were the one who kept bugging to talk to me,"_

"Then why are you still here," Naruto shot back, unconciously clenching the device on his arms. He could feel the needles shift slightly under the flesh and skin.

There was a small silence on the other end. _"You're not that annoying,"_ Sasuke finally said, in the tone of voice that sounded reluctant to admit.

"Right," Naruto huffed. "and you're not too much of a bastard to talk to either."

Sasuke leant back in his chair, seeming to look up at the ceiling and mouth the word Kami.

"...So..." Naruto hesitated. "Do you want to keep talking to me?"

Blue eyes looked hopeful. Sasuke pulled a face almost saying _what do you think_, then leaned his elbow against the table.

_"For a bit,"_ He finally managed to say.

Naruto grinned widely. He could tell from the Uchiha's face that he did want to talk.

"That's gr... ok," He held himself back from blurting out too eagerly. "Well, how about you tell me something about yourself?"

Sasuke seemed to look irate again, but not angry. _"What's there to say. I don't know. I go to university."_

"University...? But..." the blond frowned curiously. "Your website says you're just 17,"

The raven snorted. _"Obviously. That doesn't prevent me from excelling and reaching a higher level at a younger age, dobe. Besides, I'm 18 now, that website is outdated."_

Naruto pouted. "Teme. What do you study then?"

_"Medicine. Science in general. It's too complicated to explain to an idiot like you,"_ Sasuke said, although there was a hint of playfulness behind it.

"Wow," Naruto grinned, despite having just been insulted. "Then you're pretty smart..."

There was a small hn from the other side.

_"And you? Which school do you go to?"_

Naruto hesitated. "Oh, you know... normal... student... stuff..."

Sasuke scoffed lightly, as if it was obvious enough. _"Are you going to let me see your arm or not?"_

Blinking, the blond glanced down at the bandaged arm with the contraption. He slowly pulled it out so it was in the cam's view, watching the raven's reaction.

Strangely enough, the Uchiha seemed more pleased that something was stuck on his arm, than concerned at how weird or unusual it was.

Inwardly smiling, Naruto realized; Sasuke wasn't freaked out.

_"At least your dad was smart enough to get some help," _the Uchiha said in a seemingly chastising tone, leaning back comfortably in his seat.

"So... this... is alright?" Naruto asked slowly, running his fingers over the tubes.

There was a noise of contempt._ "Alright? It's neccesary,"_ he replied simply. _"So... what's it injecting?"_ Sasuke asked casually.

The blond paused. "Huh?"

_"That thing on your arm,"_ the raven tch'ed at the slow response. _"Dobe,"_ he added for extra effect.

Naruto pulled a face and reached out to grab Sasuke, only to realize that he couldn't grab him through the computer screen. He noticed the smirk on the Uchiha's face and his lips twitched.

"Teme," He mumbled half sulkily but half happy. "I actually don't... don't remember."

Sasuke hned. _"How predictable,"_ he was smirking again.

Naruto's lip twitched, then he watched the Uchiha begin to shuffle paper on his desk in an orderly manner. Half sighing and half smiling he observed.

"Hey..."

_"Yeah_?" Sasuke replied, looking up briefly from what he was organizing.

"Why do you talk to me?"

The raven frowned slightly_. "Why, got tired of me already?"_ was the dismissive reply.

"No, just that..." Naruto struggled to find the right words. "I don't really get it. I thought you said you didn't webcam because it was pointless..."

_And he didn't get it because he wasn't... normal, _Naruto added mentally to himself.

He waited for the reply which he could see was being formulated slowly by the Uchiha.

_"Well... you're differant I guess."_

Naruto looked taken back by the response, blinking a bit. He looked down slightly. "Right."

_"Differant from others, which isn't a bad thing,"_ the Uchiha added. Naruto glanced back up at him with his blue eyes. _"Differant because... of the way you talk to me too. You're not like some annoying people I personally know."_

Naruto felt his cheeks turn pink slightly, turning even redder when he noticed Sasuke smirk at his response.

_"You're differant because you're sincere, and... I can't quite put my finger on it."_

The blond played with the edge of his keyboard, unconciously avoiding the Uchiha's eyes.

_"Can't I see you better?"_

Naruto's heart gave a jolt, and he looked at the raven. "What do you mean?"

_"I don't know, open the window's or something, it's so dark in there I can barely see you sometimes."_

Biting his lip, Naruto glanced at where the windows were next to him. "I don't know..."

_"It's still a bit light outside,"_ Sasuke continued.

Naruto looked at the Uchiha, calming a bit at the deep eyes watching him almost softly. Pale hands were entwined by the fingers, where his chin rested casually.

Suddenly there was a distant sound coming from downstairs, the sound of a door opening and shutting with a click. The familiar noise of Iruka coming home.

"Maybe some other time," he said off puttingly, chewing on his lip. "I think I hear Iru... my dad at the door."

_"What about a picture?" _The raven asked quickly.

Naruto couldn't help but blush again.

"Only if _you_ send me one too," he replied quickly, trying to cover the red on his cheeks.

Sasuke responded with a perplex look, then a look of protest, then settled into a smirk. _"Fine."_

"Bye," he said, giving one last lingering look at the Uchiha.

_"See you tomorrow,_" Sasuke said back.

He closed the window and waited for Iruka to come up the stairs like he always did. He was glad that the man was back, he wondered why he wasn't there when he woke up.

No sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.

Slightly anxious, Naruto strained to listen. He slowly pushed himself from the computer chair, balancing unsteadily on his numb feet unsurely.

Carefully he stumbled to the door, grasping on the handle for support. He pressed his head against the wood and listened.

Then he heard footsteps.

Grinning widely, he waited until they reached his room.

"Iruka...!" He called out eagerly.

The door was pushed open and he found himself collapsing into the arms of Genma. He frowned with blue eyes, leaning against the larger person and looking behind him.

All he could see was blank cream walls.

"Naruto, let's get you back into bed..." Genma said, somewhat confused the boy had been standing up.

Naruto clenched onto the fabric of the sleeve as he was manouevred back to the bedside. He sat down reluctantly, blue eyes still searching for any evidence of Iruka outside.

For some reason his heart was thudding a little faster than normal.

"Where is he?"

"He's next door, resting."

"Resting?" Naruto repeated emptily.

"Just a tiring day at work," Genma said reassuringly.

The blond was still frowning slightly, gripping onto Genma's sleeve when he tried to leave. His eyes darted from Genma, to the door and back to the man again.

"Can I go see him?" He asked, blue eyes looking hopefully.

Genma hesitated. "You should stay here..."

"Only for five minutes and I can come back," Naruto said quickly, eyes almost frantic when Genma pulled his arm away forcefully.

"Just stay, Naruto. You can see him tomorrow."

He watched as Genma retreated awkwardly backwards, before turning to reach for the handle and shutting the room.

For a few moments he stared at the door, trying to listen to sounds.

Nothing.

* * *

xx keiji

1) **i dont think im going to continue this story D: **hm.

2) do the poll on my profile page grin


	7. Chapter 7

**Connected  
By Keiji**_  
Life goes flying by the speed of sound_

**  
Pairing - **Sasuke and Naruto**Summary - **Naruto hardly sees life outside the four walls of his room, because of his illness. Yet, he meets someone on the internet... his first friend. His saviour, his light. Maybe... it's a start of a new life.

* * *

Iruka was not there the next morning.

His eyes simply opened, and he was awake. No struggling, no bad dreams. Instead, he laid on the soft bed, listening carefully to the silence outside of his room, feeling small shivers run up and down his cooled skin. Feeling empty.

There were footsteps, but he didn't move until the man came into the room.

It was only Genma, carrying a tray of food.

"Good morning Naruto!"

The blonde haired boy simply closed his eyes. It wasn't Iruka. Genma sighed and checked him for a moment, before leaving the tray on the table. He seemed to clink around a bit with the bowls and spoons, making sure everything was there. Then he felt a hand shake his shoulder lightly.

Naruto's eyes opened a bit and looked up distantly at Genma.

"Time to wake up," the man announced, forcing a smile onto his features. So Naruto sighed, and complied.

It felt strange, as he pulled himself out of bed.

He looked at the tray of food and then frowned, confused.

Iruka had always brought him the same breakfast every morning, despite small little differences. Sometimes a strawberry yogurt, or a vanilla one. Sometimes a croissant instead of toast, or milk instead of juice... but they were all there, exactly as how Iruka would've made his breakfast.

His heart skipped a beat, but he chose to ignore this. His head panged when he tried to think of the reason why.

"Thank you," he mumbled to Genma, noticing that the man was still standing there.

When he looked up, he realized Genma was not staring at him.

He was staring at the webcam.

"Genma-san?"

The man frowned. "Where did you get that..."

Naruto blinked, his heart pounding as he realized he was referring to the webcam sitting on top of his monitor.

"Um... that... th-that was from Iruka... so... so we could talk to each other..."

"Iruka? He gave this to you?"

"I a-asked for it..." Naruto swallowed thickly. "It's not his fault!"

Genma hesitated, and then pulled another smile over his face carefully. With an awkward chuckle he waved his hand as if to clear the situation. "Don't worry, it's no big problem... " he tapped the breakfast tray with his finger. "Don't forget breakfast, eat up!"

With a false cheeriness, the man exited the room. Click. The door was locked.

Naruto breathed in heavily again, wondering about what had just happened. What was wrong with having a webcam?

_Sasuke_.

Forgetting all about breakfast, he stumbled and fell onto the computer chair, quickly switching the computer on.

Impatiently, he waited for the machine to whirr slowly to life and light up. A warm glow filled his room, and he smiled as he saw the email waiting in his inbox from the Uchiha boy. Grinning, he eagerly clicked it and waited for it to open, biting his lip.

_Hey dobe,_

_Let me know when you wake up, god knows when, so we can cam again. That is, if you have nothing else to do._

_And you still owe me a photo._

_Sasuke_

Naruto sighed and half sunk into his chair with a stupid smile on his face, blue eyes gazing over the short email. There was just something about the way Sasuke talked and wrote which made his skin shiver, in a pleasant way. He... made him feel safe. Reassured. And at the same time panicked and excited.

For some strange reason, he just wanted to look _good_ for Sasuke.

His heart quickened as he wondered what Sasuke thought he looked like; weird? Like a freak? He bit his lip as he tried to tame his hair with his hands, but blonde strands still popped up all over the place, like a permanent bed head. He wondered if he should wash his face or something.

He sighed. Sasuke still wanted to talk to him right? Even after seeing him twice on cam.

Gaining back his confidence, he clicked the webcam invitation and waited, heart beating.

He just wanted to see Sasuke again.

* * *

It was around 11 o clock when Sasuke received the reply from Naruto; a webcam invitation.

He couldn't help but let a grin settle on his lips. Darn it. It always happens when Naruto was around.

He clicked accept.

Within seconds, the two cam screens appeared and flickered to life.

Naruto stole his breath away, every time he saw him. Despite the dark room, his feminine features were still obvious. Pale, slim cheeks, a cute nose, and two of the bluest eyes he had ever encountered, and the soft blonde hair which framed his childish face with radiance.

The blonde was chewing on his soft lower pink lip, glancing at Sasuke's cam and then gave a small "_hi_". And for some strange reason, Sasuke just wanted to be there in front of him to rub his chewed pink lip and whisper hi back to him in his ear.

He swallowed. "Morning, dobe," he couldn't avoid the smile on his face. "Or should I say good afternoon, sleepyhead."

The boy pulled a cute face in protest. Sometimes, Sasuke wondered if the boy even knew how adorable he looked.

_"Teme,"_ the blonde huffed back, causing Sasuke to smirk.

Why did Naruto calling him Teme make him feel so unbelievably warm inside?

"It's almost 12."

_"I can see that!"_ the blonde pouted.

Sasuke sighed. "You know how dark it is in your room? It's the middle of the day and it's practically pitch black in there."

Naruto stuttered for a bit, eyes glancing downwards as he seemed to fiddle with his fingers. _"W-well I'm used to it."_

"Come on," Sasuke coaxed, heart jolting at the thought of getting to see Naruto in better lighting. He almost felt like he was looking after a pet hamster. Naruto only scrunched his nose up reluctantly, looking at the window to his left.

_"I... I guess..."_ He said slowly.

Slowly, the blonde stood up from the chair, as if he didn't want to do it at all. It seemed to take him a little while to move to the window that was just next to him, and he gripped onto the dark shutters tightly. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, semi confused. He couldn't really see the shutters in the dark. Nor could he see Naruto breathing heavily against the wood.

Suddenly he heard Naruto's small voice through the cam.

_"It's stuck."_

Sasuke half snorted, half sighed. "Just give it a pull."

There were sounds of wood rattling against wood. _"They're nailed down,"_ was the blank reply. Naruto leaned his head against the nailed wooden shutters.

Everything seemed to pause for a second.

"...why on earth would you nail it down," Sasuke laughed hesitantly, thrown off.

Naruto looked back at the cam, a lost look in his eyes. His lips tried to form words to explain why, but he didn't know. He could tell from the look on his face. Naruto lifted his hand and slowly traced the wood, where the nails were, then breathed in deeply.

_"I'm going to take them out."_

Sasuke frowned. "...you don't have to... there's no need..."

Naruto was stumbling back to his chair, reaching out to grab something from his table. The sound of clinking – it was a butter knife – and then Naruto was up against the wooden shutters, looking for the nails which had been hammered in. Sasuke felt his pulse rise.

"Naruto... Naruto! Look, they must be there for a reason, anything."

Naruto only stopped for a moment._ "I don't know why,"_ he said, voice flat. _"I don't get it. Why?" _he whispered to himself.

Sasuke watched, helpless, as the blonde hair boy began to ram the butter knife under the nail head and try to wrench it out from the wood. The large sound of a crack and a small 'clink' meant that one had been popped out. The wooden shutters rattled again as he went for the next nail.

"L-look... who put them up? Your dad?"

Another sound of a crack and a small 'clink'. Another nail.

_"I don't know."_

Sasuke sat back in his chair, only able to watch as Naruto continued. His throat felt dry.

Crack. Clink.

Crack. Clink.

Suddenly, the wooden shutters spilled open by themselves, and for a moment, the whole room was bathed in clean sunlight. The cam turned bright white, before readjusting to the new light settings, and he could see the wooden shutters had popped open, finally.

Naruto was standing there, hands clenched and gripping on the window sill, and his face turned upwards to the light – Sasuke couldn't see anything but his soft blonde hair, almost golden white in the sun, and the pale smooth skin of his arms and neck.

_It's beautiful..._

He heard the whisper, and wondered if it was himself talking.

The cam readjusted again, and now he could see Naruto's face, and his blue eyes, squinting. Squinting as he stared up and out of the window... at the sky? A hazed, dreamy look crossed over the younger boy's features and an evident shiver ran through his body.

_"It's so warm,"_ he said finally.

Despite the confusion, Sasuke smiled.

"You look as if you've never seen the sun in your life," Sasuke joked slightly.

The blonde tore his eyes away from the view, and then suddenly frowned as he stared at the glass. Even Sasuke could see, red markings on the glass. Red, black, blue, small cracks, spray paint, little dents and words scribbled all over the glass pane.

"What's that?"

Sasuke tried to lean closer to the webcam, trying to study the words, but he couldn't make them out.

"Naruto?"

* * *

Naruto felt his hands shake slightly.

His window... it was his first time seeing the sky – no – not the first time, but the first time in such a long, long time. The blue felt like it was sucking him in, and he was covered in warmth. Warm delicious warmth from the sun.

But...

His hands shook as he read the words on the window.

_Freak._

His lips trembled as he tried to decide whether to laugh or cry.

_Freak – monster! Fuck off.... _dried up red ink was scrawled at the top... _Murderer... killer..._

_You don't deserve to live;_ etched into the glass. Long scratch marks trailed from top to bottom, littered with small cracks from the other side of the window, as if people had thrown rocks at the glass, and they had bounced off, leaving marks.

Distantly, he heard Sasuke calling his name.

He breathed in, trying to calm himself down – this was just graffiti, yes, that was it! That was what it was called on the internet... vandalism and graffiti. This was just some big silly joke or something, it probably belonged to the previous owner. Yes, that was it.

Wrenching his eyes away from the window, he stumbled back to his chair and the computer.

_"You alright? –"_ Sasuke's voice was cut off.

Naruto tilted his head slightly. "What?"

He noticed his webcam had been lit up a significant amount. His eyes widened slightly as his own facial features sunk in. Three scorching marks on both of his cheeks, tired looking eyes and messy hair; he swallowed thickly as he lifted a finger to touch one of the marks, feeling the small indent of the scar.

He rubbed at them, uselessly, and tried to remember when he had gotten them.

Sasuke was still staring at him, eyes burning.

"I-I know," Naruto muttered. "St-stop staring at me, I know!"

The raven licked his lips to moisten them, before saying, _"What?"_

"I know, I'm ugly and weird, I don't care!" Naruto blurted, "Just stop looking at me like that, like... like..."

A confused look crossed Sasuke's face.

"_Dobe_," he finally said softly. _"I could never think you look ugly or weird. You're beautiful."_

The awkward words spilled from his lips, and even he looked surprised at what he had just said. And suddenly, Naruto felt his cheeks heat up at the words, and a red colour spread across his cheeks and touched the tip of his ears.

Sasuke only half smiled half smirked at this before continuing. "_Your eyes make the_ _sky jealous_," he whispered.

Naruto's heart beat thudded as he blushed harder, looking downwards. All thoughts of Sasuke just toying with his mind disappeared. The look on his face was just... intense. And real. And he suddenly felt so close to him. The raven settled back in his chair, as if pleased.

"Teme," Naruto mumbled, although a smile edged on his lips. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

Sasuke snorted lightly, and then gave a small laugh.

_"To be honest, I don't."_

Naruto blinked, and his heart swirled. "Why not?" he asked curiously.

Sasuke frowned a bit._ "Why should I."_

The blonde fell silent and resumed blushing, finger tracing the edge of his desk.

_"I don't like to talk to girls, really,"_ The raven suddenly mused. His eyes were looking somewhere else.

Naruto gave him a confused look. "I thought you'd have lots of frien-"

_"I do," _Sasuke snapped, and then sighed._ "That's not the point; the point is that all they can see in front of them is something pretty. I hate it when people look at me and want to bend over backwards to do what I want, just because of the way I __look. That's why..."_

"...that's why what?"

Sasuke bit his lower lip, studying him through the cam.

_"What about your friends?"_

Naruto stammered.

"M-my friends? I... um... my friends... they're great," he said quickly, fidgeting with the edge of his shirt.

Sasuke made a small nod, giving a somewhat saddened smile.

_"I bet they are,"_ Pause. _"You're so likeable, and easy to talk to."_ After saying it, Sasuke suddenly sat up straight and hardened his eyes, trying to shake off the soft moment they were sharing. He turned to the sheets on his desk and started piling them up. "_You're also annoying sometimes. In a nice way."_

Naruto huffed and scrunched his nose up. "And you're nice sometimes, but you're still a teme."

Sasuke laughed.

"Ne, Sasuke?"

* * *

The raven smiled and looked at the blonde on the cam.

"Yeah dobe?"

The blonde pulled a face again at the nickname, then grinned back eagerly, childishly.

_"Do you like me? Really?"_

Sasuke stopped shuffling the papers on his desk, glancing at the pens, then the table top, then back at Naruto's soft blue eyes. They were waiting for him to respond. He felt air shift inside of his lungs as he tried to think of an answer which made sense.

He moistened his lips. "Dobe, I just said that."

_"But do you think I'm... well... pretty?"_

Sasuke almost choked. Naruto was blushing furiously on the webcam. Which was cute... but still!

"I..." he coughed a little. "you don't ask guy's things like that," he finally said firmly.

The blonde looked confused.

_"Why not?"_

"Because," he snapped, feeling uneasy. God's, why was he feeling uneasy?

_"Because what?"_ Naruto continued, stubbornly, but tentatively, as if he really didn't understand. _"It's just a simple question, do you think I'm.._."

"Yes!" Sasuke wanted to slap a hand over his mouth. Damn this kid and his unintentional workings...! "What I mean to say is; it's just such a... a gay question."

Naruto's face blanked. _"Gay...?"_

"Yes, gay," Sasuke shot, just managing to grab his voice before he began to explain what gay was to the boy.

_"Fine," _the blonde finally puffed, folding his arms.

And despite the rather awkward situation, Sasuke couldn't help but think in his head how incredibly hard it was to control himself around the boy – he hardly even knew him, yet there he was, on a rollercoaster of emotions, unable to understand.

Not to mention Naruto was just so _darn cute_ when he talked to him.

His small cam chat with the boy however, was interrupted with three sharp knocks on his bedroom door.

He jerked at the noise.

_"What is it?"_ Naruto asked, curiously.

"The door," Sasuke muttered, "I'll be right back."

Reluctantly, he left his laptop and jumped up for the door before the person knocking on it destroyed it any further. He grabbed the handle and wrenched it open, just enough to see the face however, unwilling to let someone in his room whilst he was talking to Naruto.

"Hey, Sasuke," it was Neji, giving him a weird look. "What's wrong with you?"

Sasuke cast him a dark look. "What is it?"

"You forgot? Sakura's birthday, down at the Kimmikos..."

"I'm not going," but Neji jammed the door open with his foot as Sasuke tried to close it.

"Sorry mate, Kakashi wants you out of this room for at least two hours... says you need to get some fresh –"

"Alright," Sasuke snapped, gritting his teeth together.

Firmly shutting the door, he crossed the room back to his laptop.

His eyes softened at the sight of the cute boy who was eating a yogurt.

"Hey, Naruto,"

Naruto looked up, blushing. He set the yogurt cup down and wiped his lips quickly.

"...I've got to go out. Friend's and stuff... I'll talk to you tonight, ok?"

_"O-ok," _

Sasuke gave a quick smile, delighted to have a grin back in return. A small smudge of pink yogurt was left on the boys lip, strawberry, and for a moment, he wanted to lick it off the laptop screen. Instead, he settled for a small smirk before he left.

"You got some on your lip there. Bye dobe."

* * *

Well the reviews begging me to continue kinda tipped me over the edge.

There are reasons which I didn't want to continue, which I won't spam here with :)

There were two versions to this story, but I preferred this one. It actually broke out two more clues for the next chapter

have fun.

keiji xx


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